Parliaments rapporteur, Dimitrios Papadimoulis (GUE/NGL, EL), commented on the compromise: "I am glad we managed to extend the export ban of metallic mercury to its more toxic and dangerous compounds and examine, by January 2010, the need to extend it even more, by including other mercury compounds and products containing mercury, in an effort to close all loopholes. We also brought forward the legislation and ensured the safe storage of mercury, by predominantly environmental and health criteria. This is the best compromise we could have realistically hoped to obtain, with some Member States ferociously opposing it. It is a source of great relief to everyone fighting to exclude mercury from our daily lives and avoiding making the developing world Europe's dumping ground."
Safe storage of mercury stocks
The regulation introduces the obligation to store mercury waste either in salt mines, in deep, underground, hard rock formations, or in above-ground facilities "in a way that is safe for human health and the environment" before eventually being disposed of.
The Commission shall keep under review ongoing research activities on safe disposal options, including solidification of metallic mercury and submit by 1.1.2010 a report to Parliament and Council and if appropriate a proposal for revision of the directive not later than 15. March 2013.
Ban of mercury imports and extension of export scope to be examined by Commission by 2010
The Parliaments first-reading request, supported also by the Environment Committee, to ban also mercury imports into the EU is not included in the compromise, but the Commission has to examine together with the Member States and the relevant stakeholders by 2010 if there is a need for such a ban. Furthermore the Commission will examine, if the export ban shall be extended to other mercury compounds, mixtures with a lower mercury content and products containing mercury, in particular thermometers, barometers and sphygmomanometers.
Uses and hazards of mercury
Mercury can come from waste recycling (e.g. fluorescent lamps, batteries), natural gas cleaning or the industrial treatment of non-ferrous metals. It is used above all in the chlor-alkali industry, which has undertaken to convert to techniques that are less dangerous to health and the environment; the old methods produce large quantities of highly toxic calomel (mercurous chloride).
Mercury is highly toxic to humans, especially when transformed into methylmercury. It is also bio-accumulative, meaning that it concentrates in the food chain. Numerous scientific studies blame it for cardiovascular and immune-system ailments. It can affect the brain development of unborn children, even in minimal doses.
Mercury use is declining both in the EU and globally. Global demand is around 3,400 tonnes per year, with the EU-25 accounting for 780 tonnes in 2005.
Across the world, the main uses of mercury are in small-scale gold mining, the chlor-alkali industry and production of vinyl-chloride monomer, the basis of PVC plastic. In the EU only the chlor-alkali industry remains a significant user, and it is progressively phasing out the use of mercury-containing cells in its production of chlorine.
